Around the World VFR (ish) - now complete!

[gordongreig]

Leg 47 Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia (WADD Bali International) to Singapore (WSAP Paya Lebar)

This leg: 1,089Nm, 3:40 flying time
Total so far: 51,343Nm, 196:16 flying time

Off to Singapore today, with a fly over of Jakarta on the way. Looks like lots to see in Singapore, and so to make sure our route into the city gives us the best views, we are going to approach from the West and essentially fly directly over the city into Paya Lebar airport (and not Changi). To make it more interesting, we are going for a dusk/night landing. The flight time is 3:41, and according to Google, sunset in Singapore today is 19:21 local time. So we are going to leave Bali about 16:00 which should mean we are arriving a little after sunset. We shall see!

Snack-wise - after yesterday’s satay, we are going for another peanut based street food - Soimay. This is Indonesia’s version of dim sum. This dish contain steamed fish dumplings and comes with steamed potato, cabbage, egg and served with peanut sauce. Ideal!

Let’s get going then - and we are not having good luck with the weather at all in Indonesia. Bit wet here, although not too many clouds about just yet. And enough rain and sun for a rainbow to get us started

Smooth take off with the storm behind us and nice views over Bali

Our departure route takes us East first, over Penida Island before the turn North and then circle around to the West. Gunung Agung to our right - about 10,000ft high

We are staying at 10,000ft ourselves as there are quite a few high mountains as we head towards Jakarta up the spine of Java - flying high enough to be above the frequent lightning flashes in the clouds below us

Flying towards the setting sun, and some glorious views with the cloud formations as we descend towards Jakarta

Dropping down further below some heavy clouds - seemingly getting dark already here, but I think that’s mainly the cloud cover. So we get to see Jakarta by night - and thunderstorms too! We are also flying right over the top of the Indonesian Convention Exhibition Centre

Climbing back up to 10,000 feet now to hopefully get above these low clouds and storms - but still pitch black, so climbing to 20,000 feet - should be just about sunset now, so wasn’t expecting it to be completely dark yet

Flying over Sumatra in the dark - along the East Coast here, there isn’t much to see - just one highway flowing up the side of the island and the city of Palembang

Maybe beginning to see the glow from Singapore on the distamt horizon

Beginning our descent towards Singapore. Our plan is to head a little West of the City and trun East over Pulau Sudong Military Airtsrip. This is on a small island of Sudong, which is basically just the airstrip. This should take us to the start of the approach to runway 02 at Paya Lebar, flying along the waterfront of the city and then descending down over the city itself.

Closing in on Sudong and the lights of Singapore lighting up the sky

Turning to the East and a flyby of the waterfront at Singapore

Turned and lined up on the ILS approach, all looking good

And landed

Nice flight. Got dark surprisingly quickly, so my plan for a dusk flyby Singapore didn’t come off, but seeing the city at night was good too. We’ll plan in a little city flyaround at the start of our next leg, which will be taking us further North - probably towards Bankkok if that’s in range

[gordongreig]

Progress map and log updated

[gordongreig]

Leg 48 Singapore (WSAP Paya Lebar) to Bangkok, Thailand (VTBD Bangkok International)

This leg: 1,119Nm, 4:03 flying time
Total so far: 52,462, 200:19 flying time

Another trip, another milestone. 200 flying hours clocked up now as we reach leg 48. Today we are flying from Singapore to Bangkok, taking a little detour North West to Kuala Lumpur and then also via Angkor Wat in Cambodia, before heading East to Bangkok. That means a longish trek across the Gulf of Thailand.

The best of cuisine from Singapore leads us to Hainanese chicken rice. This is steamed chicken served with rice cooked in chicken stock. Yummy

After arriving late on our previous flight, we got to see Singapore by night. Today, we’re going to start with a bit of a tour around the city before heading to Kuala Lumpur. So time to get going - and ir’s a nice bright day in Singapore

So time for a tour of the city and, to be honest, to be a bit of a hooligan for a few minutes

Ok, enough of that nonsense, and let’s get back onto the flight plan and head into Malaysia - climbing up to 28,000ft

Descending steeply as we approach Kuala Lumpur so that we can get a good look at the city as we fly past - albeit it looks like a lot of low cloud

A brief fly past of the Petronas Towers - cool in the murky clouds and rain

Climbing back up to 21,000ft, and heading North across Malaysia towards the Gulf of Thailand. Luckily climbing fast enough to avoid the quickly rising mountains North of Kuala Lumpur

Thick black clouds and thunderstorms below us

Clouds have cleared as we near the Northern coast of Malaysia

Heading across the Gulf of Thailand towards Cambodia first. ATC taking us down to 8,000 feet as we near the coast of Cambodia and the first sight of land

Over Cambodia, and we can see the winding Preak Piphot River far below, snaking through the rainforest and then miles and miles of cultivated land

Crossing Tonle Sap, a huge lake, just South of Angkor Wat. Time to descend down for a closer look

Flying over Kron Siem Reap before reaching Angkor Wat

Off towards Bangkok approach crossing some mountains and the Pong Nam Ron River

Our approach track takes us back out over the Gulf of Thailand before turning back North and then looping around to the West and snaking over Bangkok itself and into Bangkok International

Crossing the Phang Rat River and the Presea River

Turning to the North back over land on the approach path and then West back out over the sea again - Bangkok just to the North of us

Starting to head North towards the city and our final approach, descending fairly quickly

Turning to line up now

And we’re here!

Next stop Hong Kong I think and then East to China or West towards India? Let’s see how the fancy takes us

[gordongreig]

Updated map and log

[gordongreig]

Leg 49 Bangkok, Thailand (VTBD Bangkok International) to Hong Kong (VHHH Hong Kong International)

This leg: 914Nm, 3:36 flying time
Total so far: 53,376Nm, 203:55 flying time

Off to Hong Kong today, a relatively short hop for us - just under 1,000Nm. Taking a direct route, but with an approach in to runway 25R at Hong Kong than should give us a nice turn around over the city as we line up with the airport.

What’s Bangkok food like then? Well I’ve gone for Thai corn cakes with pickled cucumbers - a classic Thai street food apparently. Hopefully enough to keep everyone going.

So let’s get going, and a nice bright day in Bangkok. Climbing and turning about 180 degrees to head North East

Crossing the Mekong River into Vietnam and then out to sea and over the East Vietnam Sea

The island of Hainan in China and then crossing over the Chinese main land itself

Over Macao, with Hong Kong and our destination airport in the distance ahead

And a nice tour of Hong Kong before lining up on approach - soeme stunning views

Lined up, and looking good - with amazing scenery behind

Landing and parked up

Nice flight

I took the screenshots today by recording the flight using Flight Control Replay by Fabio Merlo @Kartijno. This worked really well, enabling me to fly the plane “naturally” without continuous pausing, I then replayed the flight, fast forwarding through to the parts where I wanted to take screenshots. Good job Fabio, thank you. I recommend this tool to anyone - good value and works well. A few small teething points to be ironed out, but has great potential. See here for a more in depth review.

Flight Control Replay - UPDATED - Full Review - Including Preview Build of Forthcoming Update

TL;DR Flight Control Replay is awesome. I’ve been using it since launch, and having great results. The preview build for the updated version due at the end of the month is even better. The dev has made some great improvements and added features already and this is really a great tool with many easy to use but powerful features. Disclaimer - I have no affiliation to the dev (Fabio Merlo - I think he is @Kartijno on these forums, but if not, that is my misunderstanding and I apologise), Flight …

[gordongreig]

Leg 50 Hong Kong (VHHH Hong Kong International) to Beijing, China (ZBAA Beijing Capital)

This leg: 1,159Nm, 4:49 flying time
Total so far: 54,535Nm, 208:44 flying time

Well, we are off to Beijing today, taking a pretty straight run directly North from Hong Kong for about 1,100Nm. Nice easy flight I think. We begin heading West, then turning South as we leave Hong Kong to circle back around to the North and we should get another nice view over Hong Kong itself. We then straight line it North cross country to Beijing. When we arrive, our approach should take us nicely over the city before we loop around to land heading South.

We are stocking up today with a particularly nice Hong Kong delicacy: Chinese fermented rice poached egg soup.

If it tastes as good as it sounds…

Pretty good weather in Hong Kong this morning, so time to get going

Our departure route takes us out and over the South China Sea and we circle back to the North, crossing right over the top of Hong Kong for some more great views

Crossing into mainland China

Crossing the Dong River - still very built up here, towns and cities in all directions

Heading more into the countryside and passing over the Lianhe Reservoir

Some small mountains ahead, although we shouldn’t be crossing anything too tall today. This is the Nankunshan National Forest Park - there are certainly plenty of trees

Making our way across central China - quite flat really with the occassional ridge of hills

The Shangyou River and Reservoir

This is about as mountainous as its getting

The huge Zhelin Reservoir off to our right hand side - as far as the eye can see

And the Yangtze River looks vast with Huanggang on our left

Another vast reservoir - the Nianyu Reservoir - which is pretty much the last thing before we start to head over hundreds of miles of flatlands

It’s incredibly flat out here - but also clearly all of the land is cultivated

And it just seems to keep going forever in all directions

As we approach Beijing, is is still flat, still cultivated, but now more towns and built up areas, but all in incredibly angular patterns and shapes

Beijing sprawls in all directions. On our left, the National Centre for Performing Arts, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, the Palace Museum and many other museums, To our right, the Temple of the Sun, CCTV Headquarters and what looks like the financial district

A great view of the Olympic Park on our left as we leave the city behind to start our approach pattern

We are doing a 180 degree turn to come back towards the airport from the North, over the small mountains North of Beijing itself. We will be passing Huairou Reservoir to the right on our final approach

Locked and loaded for final approach now, straight in, good weather, nothing to worry about

It’s a big airport, and I can see at least 3 runways - we are coming in to the furthest right one

Nice approach in and landing

And here we are parked up in Beijing

We need to head West now towards the Himalayas, should be fun!

[gordongreig]

Updated world map and log

[dokken121212]

This is superb and really enjoying it :-). I am thinking of doing something similar as in flying around the globe. Do you happen to have a blank copy of your flight logbook please? I could make one but yours looks way more professional than anything I would be able to cobble together
Al lthe very best

[gordongreig]

Glad you are enjoying the thread and my travels.

No problem - try this file, which hopefully you can download from my onedrive. Only thing to remember is that when you are adding new rows, copy the row from two up and not just the previous one so the colours copy correctly. I’ve put 50 blank rows in here. The colums to the right will automatically add up the total miles and hours for you. Enter the time in hh:mm into column K to make sure it adds it correctly (so don’t put hh.mm, you need the colon).

https://1drv.ms/x/s!ApswcPbC_WGE7eITLyiab5-IzOWJMA?e=EMzmtp

Let me know if you are able to download this. The link expiores in a week, so once you’ve opened it, you should save it to your computer.

Let me know if you’ve any problems

Cheers

[dokken121212]

Hi Gordon

Thank you so much for this and yes I managed to download it and have it now - that is very kind of you and appreciate it :-). I have also taken a note of your instructions too
Thanks again Gordon and look forward to more travels Take care

[gordongreig]

Leg 51 Beijing, China (ZBAA Beijing Capital) to Guolemude, China (ZLGM Golmud Airport)

This leg: 1,071Nm, 4:11 flying time
Total so far: 55,606Nm, 212:55 flying time

So having spent the last few legs hopping between major cities (OK, perhaps not Bugalaga!), it’s time to get off the beaten track again. This time we are heading pretty much due West from Baijing into the Qinghai province in China. This will take us nicely towards Tibet and the Himalayas. We are taking a direct route - I suspect crossing a tremendous amount of barren lands. There are some tall Mountains towards the end of the flight though, and Golmud Airport itself is at 9,400 feet elevation.

When in China…so our gourmet snack of the day today is Jiaozi, Chinese Dumplings. These look very good indeed!

One other thing to note. I’ve had the plane in the “shop” for the last few days, and have just had it upgraded with mixMugz performance improvement modifications. Let’s get going and see how we get on. We are going to try to time this to be dusk as we approach Golmud. Sunset today is 19:32 local time. This is supposed to be a 4:11 flying time. So let’s give ourselves some breathing space and take off 5 hours before sunset - so say at 14:32 local time. Let’s go.

Lovely clear skies in Beijing today

Heading West away from Beijing and towards some mountains and the Xiao Wu Tai Shan National Park

Crossing the Yellow River

This part of China is as flat and as expansive as Australia

This looks like we are flying over the surface of mars

Approaching a ridge of high mountains before we make our approach into Golmud

Reaching the end of the mountains and heading back to the flat expanse of barren land

On the final leg towards Golmud. We should be approaching pretty close to the runway heading, so expecting to come straight in VFR

Looking for the runway, passing Golmud town

Lining up to land

And down

Well we made good time, and missed out on the sunset - timed it badly. However, the new plane upgardes worked reallty well and the plane felt really good to fly.

Our next leg will be South towards the Himalayas

[gordongreig]

Updated world map and log

[gordongreig]

Leg 52 - Guolemude, China (ZLGM Golmud Airport) to Lukla, Nepal (VNLK Tenzing-Hillary Airport)

This leg: 751Nm, 2:55 flying time
Total so far: 56,357Nm, 215:50 flying time

Today we are heading South to the Himalayas and the famous Lukla airport. Shortish leg today, just 751Nm and we are taking in the Potala Palace on the way and flying over Paro Airport in Bhutan.

Today’s snack is Mongolian Hotpot

I’m sure it is tasty, although not entirely sure how we are getting the oven in the plane I’m less certain of. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll figure out a way!

So let’s get going - a bit overcast here in South West China

Turning and heading South towards the mountains

Heading into some dubious weather

After many miles through thick cloud, there is some hint of clearing skies ahead

Crossing a lot of barren land as we head South towards more distant mountains - maybe the start of the Himalayas? The snow capped peaks are visible on the horizon

OK, so these mountains look tall and snow covered - but they aren’t the Himalayas - they are some distance South yet, and are considerably higher than these ones

After cross more barren expanses, we are coming into slightly hillier territory again

Approaching and circling around Lhasa to see the Potala Palace. Turns out this was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas for many years - it’s an impressive place, although I did have to make a rapid dive and turn around to catch it!

Heading South again towards Paro over some impressive mountains - only to find Paro shrouded in low cloud

Turning West to head towards Lukla now, and we can see the towering peaks of the Himalayas on the Horizon

This is Kangchenjunga on the right - 28,169 feet high

And there is Everest now on the horizon

Now we need to approach Lukla from the South, so time to start to head South and circle back up the valley that Lukla is nestled in. Everest and Makalu to our right

Turning to head North up the valley. I’ve no real idea where the airport is, so it is just a question of whether I can spot it or not. Fortunately the weather is clear, and visibility is excellent. Somewhere up here is an airport!

Gear is down, just in case - and above the snow line now - not seeing it, but the map says we are close!

It must be here somewhere!

I must be too low - time to circle back around - I must be flying below the runway!

There it is! Yep, I was too low coming up the valley

OK, need to go right back down the valley and turn and come back again, but a bit higher this time!

This looks a bit better - lots of wind and turbulence though

And down!

And parked - with stunning views

Wow, that was really tough landing. Could have come in a bit quicker though, as the slope really helps to slow things down.

Where to next I wonder? South to India I think probably.

[gordongreig]

Updated world map and log

[gordongreig]

Leg 53 - Lukla, Nepal (VNLK Tenzing-Hillary Airport) to Koggala, Sri Lanka (VCCK Koggala)

This leg 1,564Nm, 5:42 flying time
Total so far: 57,921Nm, 221:32 flying time

Today we are heading a long way South to much warmer climes - Sri Lanka. But first we are heading North for a flyover of Everest. After that, we are turning 180 degrees around and flying over a couple of points of interest on our way to Sri Lanka. First port of call is Dhamek Stupa in Northern India, and then Konark Sun Temple, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. We’ll then go directly South to Sri Lanka crossing the Bay before landing at Koggala - a small airstrip on the Southern tip of Sri Lanka. This should set us up nicely to head up the West coast of India for our next leg.

Today’s snack is Nepalese Chicken Tarkari - hopeully something that will keep us warm and fortify us for the steep climb from Lukla all the way up to 30,000 feet to the top of Everest.

So let’s get going…and it looks like a lovely morning here - and we need to start with a steep climb heading South to be able to turn and climb even higher to the North

Climbing…climbing…climbing…

There’s where we are headed…all the way up there!

Catching the sun now as we near the peak

Finally we reach the top - incredible views in all directions

Time to turn to the South now and head to Dhamek Stupa

Soon we head South from the serious mountains and the snow recedes. Our destination is miles away across the northern part of India

And we leave the Himalayas behind now and leave Nepal into India - much flatter here, but the rivers flowing down from the mountains are very evident

First is the Gandak River and then the Ghaghara River - both look enormous

We’ve descended right down now to get a good look at the Stupa - crossing the Ganges first

And there it is, the Dhamek Stupa - which I must confess doesn’t look as big as I was expecting from this height

But the Ganges really is vast!

Heading South East now to the coast and the Sun Temple - crossing a few lakes and hills on the way as well as the Sone River, the Brahmani River and the Mahandi River

Here’s the Konark Sun Temple, close to the East Coast of India

Heading out over the Bay of Bengal and turning to the South - we climb up to 30,000 feet to preserve fuel as we will be close to the wire on this one

And here’s Sri Lanka, as we descend now to start our approach to the airport. Definitely a bit thicker cloud here now and the weather not looking great

Looks a little better now we’ve descended quite a bit

The runway is over there, now to try to get lined up

Turning now towards the airport, but I’m too high here so will need to go around

Turning on to final now - much better altitude this time and better lined up

And down

Nice flight - next leg we head back up through India but up the West coast this time

[gordongreig]

World map and log

[Anthony964112]

AMAZING pictures gorden keep em coming

[HigherFlyer1282]

I want all of these to be my desktop background

[gordongreig]

Leg 54 - Koggala, Sri Lanka (VCCK Koggala) to Okha, India (VAOK Okha Airport)

This leg: 1,281Nm, 4:55 flying time
Total so far: 59,202Nm, 226:27 flying time

Today’s flight, as promised, is taking us North up the West coast of India. First we are going to take a little detour across Sri Lanka and pick up a couple of sights we missed on our way South from Nepal. First up is Sigiriya (an ancient rock fortress) and then Ruwanwelisaya Stupa, just a little North from there. After that we are heading North West to Cochin and then a straight run up the West Coast of India to Mumbai and onwards to Okha - a small town on a pensinula at the Gulf of Kutch.

To keep our paying passengers happy today, we are stocking up with Sr Lankan Fish Curry - a local speciality

Yummy

So let’s get going - and it’s a lovely dawn in Sri Lanka

Lifting up into the golden sky

Approaching Sigiriya, and ancient rock fortress, so let’s dive down and have a closer look

Heading North West now towards Ruwanwelisaya Stupa

On our right is the Ritigla Strict Nature Reserve

Approaching the town of Anuradhapura, where the Stupa is - it’s the white dome in the distance - and a great shot of the Stupa in the dawn sunshine

Heading more Westerly now towards India and across the Palk Strait - the sea between Sri Lanka and India

Landfall over India - and we are heading straight across to near the West coast and the town of Cochin

Close to Cochin and a lot more cloudy here - not really able to see the town at all, but still, we now need to turn to nearly due North and start the long trek up the West Coast of India to Mumbai

On our right is the Chimmini Wildlife Sanctuary

Clouds clearing a bit as we head North and some very rugged scenery

The winding Kaveri River catches the sunlight beautifully

Amazing views of the Linganamakki Reservoir, a vast, sprawling network of inlets and connected lakes

Approaching Mumbai, follwoing the winding river Amba

Heading away from Mumbai across the Gulk of Khambhat

Back over land and fast approaching Okha

Time to circle around to the right so we can start out approach to runway 25

Turning to line up with the runway

And down

Nice flight with some interesting sights along the way.

Some decisions to be made about where next, but feels like North, through the rest of India, into Pakistan, then West-ish to Afgahnistan and then Iran I think.

[gordongreig]

Updated map and log: